Australian IS recruit killed in Syria

MELBOURNE: A 25-year-old Australian man, who swapped a modelling career to join the Islamic State last year, has been reportedly killed while fighting for the dreaded militant group in Syria.

Sharky Jama, a former model from Melbourne, was shot dead earlier this week, according to media reports here.

Jama had left his family's home in August to travel to Syria to fight for Islamic State ( IS), also known by its other acronym ISIS.

An Australian Associated Press report said Jama's family came to know about his whereabouts when he rang his mother from the Iraqi city of Fallujah, 70 kilometres west of Baghdad, which has been under IS control for about a year.

Jama again called his family from the Turkish-Syrian border, the report said.

The report quoted Hussein Haraco, president of the Somali Australian Council of Victoria, saying that Jama's father, Dada Jama, received a text message "from someone in Syria" earlier this week, saying his son had been shot dead.

Dada Jama tried to call his son's phone number, but he could reach only his voicemail.

Jama's death comes only weeks after two other Melbourne teenagers -- 23-year-old Suhan Raham and 18-year-old Jake Bilardi -- were reportedly killed while fighting for IS.